Ingénue

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The ingénue (US: , UK: , French: [ɛ̃ʒeny] ) is a literary, cinematic, and theatrical stock character that refers to a beautiful, virginal girl or young woman characterized by her innocence and naivety, who has not yet come into contact with the world. It is closely associated with the "girl next door" type. The term originated in French theatre, where it referred to any young actress playing a major role—the equivalent of the "female juvenile lead" in English theatre. Heroines fell within this category, as long as they were young characters rather than roles taken by the company's leading lady. In French literature, Molière is credited with introducing the ingénue in his 17th-century play The School for Wives. Examples of parts that would have fallen to the ingénue include those of Ophelia, Desdemona, and Cordelia in Shakespearean theatre, and Mariane in Tartuffe and Aricie in Phèdre in French theatre. The ingénue found particularly fertile ground in melodrama, a genre rich in such roles...

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